Alert Shetland Sheepdog barking outdoors, relevant to stopping nightly barking
on May 10, 2023

20 Effective Ways to Put a Stop to Your Dog's Nightly Barking

How to Stop Your Dog's Nightly Barking

Short answer: identify the real cause first (boredom, anxiety, needing the toilet, or a medical issue), avoid reinforcing the barking with attention, and expect it to briefly get worse before it improves — this is a normal, well-documented part of changing the behaviour, not a sign your approach isn't working. Below, we cover genuinely effective techniques, and a couple of commonly-suggested "fixes" that are worth avoiding.

Last updated 20 September 2026. Written by Jamie Sinclair, who writes about canine health, nutrition, and everyday care for Doggy Dailies — focused on translating veterinary research and real ingredient science into practical, honest guidance UK dog owners can use.

Table of Contents

Why Dogs Bark at Night

Common causes include boredom, separation-related anxiety, needing the toilet, reacting to outside sounds, loneliness (particularly if sleeping away from the family), or simply having learned that barking brings attention. Working out which of these applies to your dog is the real first step — a fix that works for boredom won't help a dog barking from anxiety. If separation-related anxiety seems to be behind it, our guide to understanding separation anxiety in dogs covers the underlying causes and fixes in more depth.

Is Your Dog Actually Barking in Their Sleep?

It's worth ruling this out before assuming your dog is deliberately barking awake: dogs, like people, experience REM sleep, and twitching, soft whimpering, paw-paddling and the occasional muffled bark during sleep are all completely normal signs of dreaming. This kind of sleep barking is usually brief, quiet, and the dog doesn't wake up or seem distressed afterwards — it needs no intervention at all, and waking a dog mid-dream can actually startle them. This is a different thing entirely from a dog that's fully awake and barking at something (or nothing) for an extended period, which is what the rest of this guide addresses.

If This Is New Behaviour

If your dog has suddenly started barking at night when they didn't before, this is genuinely worth a vet check before anything else — particularly in senior dogs, where new nighttime barking can be linked to joint pain, discomfort, or age-related cognitive changes. Ruling out a medical cause first saves you training against something training can't fix.

The "Extinction Burst" — Know This Before You Start

This is genuinely useful to know in advance: when you stop responding to barking that previously got a reaction, the barking often gets worse for a period before it improves. This is called an extinction burst — your dog trying harder with a strategy that used to work. Knowing this in advance helps you stay consistent through it, rather than assuming the approach has failed and giving up right before it would have worked.

Why "Fussing" After Bad Behaviour Backfires — The Real Numbers

This is worth spelling out precisely, because the scale of the effect genuinely surprises most owners. A large UK longitudinal study following puppies from birth found that dogs whose owners reported "fussing" over them (in response to unwanted behaviour like barking or whining) at six months old were six times more likely to display separation-related behaviours — a category that overlaps significantly with nighttime barking driven by anxiety or attention-seeking (Dale et al., 2024, Animal Welfare). The same study found that owners who used more punishment or aversive responses to "bad" behaviour also saw increased odds of the problem persisting. In practice, this means the instinct to either scold OR comfort a barking dog can both, in different ways, reinforce the exact pattern you're trying to stop — which is why calm, consistent non-engagement (covered below) genuinely outperforms either extreme.

Puppies vs Adult Dogs: Why the Approach Differs

Nighttime barking in a young puppy and nighttime barking in an adult dog usually have different root causes, and treating them the same way can slow progress. A puppy barking or crying at night, especially in the first few weeks home, is very often genuine distress at being alone for the first time — not a behaviour to extinguish through non-engagement in the same way you would with an adult dog's learned attention-seeking barking. The AVSAB's position statement on humane dog training specifically cautions against training approaches that rely on fear, pain, or forced isolation, and recommends building confidence gradually instead (AVSAB, Position Statement on Humane Dog Training, 2021).

In practice, this means a young puppy settling into a new home often benefits from a gradual approach: starting the crate or bed somewhere close to you for the first few nights, then moving it gradually further away as they settle, rather than isolating them fully from night one. Brief, quiet settling sounds are normal and expected; prolonged, escalating distress calls for a slower pace, not a firmer one. An adult dog with an established barking habit, by contrast, is more often dealing with a learned pattern (attention-seeking, boredom, or anxiety that's had time to build), which is where the consistent non-engagement and extinction-burst guidance above tends to apply more directly. If you're not sure which situation you're in, a certified puppy class or a qualified behaviourist can help you tell the difference early, before a pattern sets in either way.

Effective Techniques

  • Ensure they're properly tired — adequate daytime exercise and mental stimulation makes settling at night genuinely easier
  • Create a calm, comfortable sleep space — quiet, away from disturbances, with a comfortable bed
  • Keep a consistent bedtime routine — a toilet break and wind-down time signal that it's time to settle, not bark
  • Use white noise to mask outside sounds that might trigger alert barking
  • Don't reinforce the barking with attention — responding, even to tell them off, can teach your dog that barking gets your attention
  • Teach a "quiet" cue during the day, and reward calm behaviour consistently
  • Address separation-related anxiety directly if that's the underlying cause, rather than just managing the barking symptom

What to Avoid

  • Punishing your dog for barking — this typically increases anxiety and can make barking worse, not better
  • Citronella spray collars or similar aversive tools — these work by startling or mildly punishing the dog, which sits uneasily alongside genuine anxiety-based barking and isn't something we'd recommend as a first approach
  • Restricting water access — rather than limiting water, simply time the last toilet break and drink appropriately before bed

If barking persists despite consistent effort, a certified trainer or behaviourist can help identify what's specifically maintaining the behaviour in your dog's case.

Our Range

Doggy Dailies Calming Chews jar for dog anxiety support

If anxiety seems to be part of the picture, our Calming Chews combine chamomile, valerian root, and L-theanine — a genuinely helpful part of a broader approach alongside (not instead of) addressing the underlying cause.

FAQ

Why is my dog suddenly barking at night?
New barking that wasn't there before is worth a vet check first, especially in senior dogs, where it can be linked to pain or cognitive changes.

Will my dog's barking get worse before it gets better?
Often, yes — this is called an extinction burst and is a normal part of the process when you stop reinforcing a previously-successful behaviour. Staying consistent through it matters.

Does comforting my dog after they bark make it worse?
It can. Research found puppies whose owners "fussed" over them in response to unwanted behaviour were six times more likely to develop separation-related behaviours, which overlap with nighttime barking.

Should I use a citronella spray collar to stop barking?
We wouldn't recommend it as a first approach — it works through mild punishment, which can increase anxiety rather than address the underlying cause.

Should I limit my dog's water before bed to stop nighttime barking?
It's better to time the last toilet break and drink appropriately rather than restrict water access generally.

Is it normal for a dog to bark in their sleep?
Yes — brief, quiet barking, whimpering or paw-paddling during sleep is a normal sign of dreaming (REM sleep) and needs no intervention. It's different from a dog fully awake and barking for an extended period.

Should I settle a new puppy in a crate right next to my bed?
Often yes, at least for the first few nights — starting close and moving the crate gradually further away tends to work better than full isolation from night one, since genuine distress in a new puppy needs a gentler approach than an adult dog's learned barking habit.

Sources

This article is for general information only and isn't a substitute for veterinary or professional behavioural advice. If barking is new, persistent, or linked to distress, please consult your vet or a qualified behaviourist.